With an aging power grid in the US, and power outages increasing in frequency, the healthcare industry is experiencing rising costs due to these occurrences. One area in which expenses have had the highest increase is in the loss of temperature sensitive vaccines.
Vaccines are extremely fragile, and must be kept in refrigerators and freezers at temperatures recommended by their manufacturers. Fluctuations outside these ranges can cause the vaccines to lose their potency, and effectivness. During a power outage, these temperatures can no longer be maintained. This can result in at times in entire inventories being discarded, resulting in losses of thousands of dollars. There is also the inconvenience and cost of patient revaccination if the event was not immediately noticed.
These challenges are compounded for large medical practices with large inventories of vaccines and other medications. A growing multispecialty practice with five locations, was faced with these challenges. Located in the Boston area, summer thunderstorms and the harsh New England winters could often leave them without power for days. They could not afford this risk, and decided to take action.
The most obvious solution would have been to power the buildings with fuel powered generators. However, this is often an expensive option, and requires many considerations. With the main location being located in an old factory, the electrical wiring through the building would have been a costly and difficult task. There would also have been other questions. A few of these being: How much would it cost? What type of fuel would it take and how will it be delivered? How often will maintenance be required? What are local ordinances are there regarding noise, emissions, etc? Will building permits and inspections be required? How much space will it require? Clearly, installing fuel powered generators in each of their locations would have been a very large and expensive project. They needed a much more quicker and more economical solution.
One of their vendors Henry Schein, referred them to Medi-Products, a company offering battery powered backup systems to the medical industry. The medical practice asked them if they could provide 48 hours of backup for each of their vaccine storage appliances. Medi-Products conducted an assessment of the organizations total power requirements. A list of every appliance that needed powered was compiled, grouped by area and by building. A custom battery backup system was then manufactured sized to power each area for the required run time.
The solution Medi-Products provided was completely plug and play. The Silent Sentry, a wall mounted system, was installed in each room where the vaccine refrigerators were located. The system had four receptacles that the appliances could plug into. The system itself then plugged into a standard existing wall outlet. Within one day, installation was completed. The battery systems were completely silent, there were no building permits required, and no fuel lines or maintenance required. Overall, the cost was far less than an outdoor generator would have been.
If you think Mediproducts unique battery backup systems may work for you, or would like to learn more, please request a Backup Power Assessment.
Find Out More
To answer even more of your questions and find additional solutions to problems that could affect your medical facility or laboratory, check out these other articles from the Medi-Products blog including:
Vaccine Refrigerator Power Outage
What Size Generator is Needed to Run a Refrigerator
How Many Amps Does a Refrigerator Use? – How to Find It’s Energy Usage
